Syria army shells Aleppo rebel districts

The Syrian army shelled rebel-held districts of commercial capital Aleppo Sunday as fighting flared anew around a southwestern neighbourhood that rebel fighters had quit last week, a human rights group said.

The Shaar, Tariq Al Bab, Sakhur, Hanano and Bustan Al Qasr neighbourhoods all came under bombardment, as troops pressed a ground offensive they launched on Wednesday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

An army colonel was killed in an assault by rebels in the Safira district, the Britain-based watchdog said.

In the capital Damascus, gunfire was reported in the Qadam neighbourhood.

Heavy explosions were heard in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, the Observatory said. Elsewhere in the province, machinegun fire was heard in the town of Al Tal, where 15 civilians were killed in shelling and clashes on Saturday as troops tried to regain control from rebels.

They were among 148 people killed across Syria on Saturday — 85 civilians, 20 rebels and 43 soldiers, the Observatory said.